The Greek Ministry of Health has announced that it will form a working group of various stakeholders to consider the prospect of legalising cannabis for medicinal use.
The group which will consist of academics, psychiatrists, scientific and legal advisers of the Prime Minister, members of the health and justice ministries, along with patient associations and members of patient associations, will assess the contemporary use of cannabis and the legislative framework, and are to propose feasible regulations that would make the medicinal use of it possible.
The findings of the group will be submitted to the Ministry of Health by October 2016.
Greece has a long history of cannabis use and cultivation which can be traced to ancient times, since the period of Herodotus who documented its use in his writings in the fifth century BCE.
It wasn’t until 1890 that cannabis was made illegal in Greece, with the government at the time prohibiting its importation, cultivation and use.